BUKIT JALIL, June 30 — National shuttlers who are smokers will be dropped from the squad if they do not kick the habit immediately.
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) are cracking down on smokers in the squad by conducting a nicotine test on all shuttlers as soon as possible. Those found with nicotine in their system face a harsh reality.
“We’ll test them once and if the substance is found in their system they get three months grace period before being tested again. If nicotine is still in their system we’ll drop them from the team,” said BAM president Datuk Sri Norza Zakaria after chairing the BAM council meeting at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil where the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open is ongoing.
World No 50 Iskandar is currently the third-ranked player behind world No. 7 Lee Chong Wei and Lee Zii Jia (45) under head singles coach Datuk Misbun Sidek. He was caught smoking in his hotel room during the Thomas Cup in Bangkok in May and hotel management sent a bill demanding compensation for minor damage to the room.
Iskandar played three matches for Malaysia in Bangkok, winning two and losing one.
BAM’s Coaching and Training (C&T) committee met a few weeks ago to decide the next course of action. Realising there are others in the team who are smokers as well they decided to give them a final chance to quit the habit.
“If we are strict with our rules we could lose a few of the important players. There are around five or six of them,” explained Norza.
“We consulted the National Sports Institute (NSI) and they said it’ll take around three months for nicotine to leave the body. We have done this kind of test on and off and we know who the guilty parties are.
“Datuk Misbun has given his recommendations and Iskandar will be dropped from the Asian Games squad. His spot will be taken by Soong Joo Ven.”
It is rumoured Iskandar’s exclusion from the Asian games squad is not just down to smoking or a lack of form, he has missed a training session.
“When we caught Iskandar smoking we reprimanded him. But upon returning to Malaysia and after a break he was absent from training so Misbun decided to replace him,” said Norza.
